Betrayed
by Airanke
Summary: When thunder is no longer there to answer, the lightning must make due with the rain. And the rain must calm the storm. Masamune, Oichi.
1. Chapter 1

I am resubmitting this story due to idea re-working.

You will be introduced more fully to Kent and other characters that will be seen in Countervail. In the original version of Betrayed, Kent was as out of character as Kent could possibly get.

The first and second chapters are relatively unchanged, but everything from 3 onward should be different. The original version of this story was deleted.

**

* * *

Chapter 1**

Lightning flashed outside; the thunder followed in an angry roar. The rain could have been falling harder than it was.

The ground was so wet that nothing could walk through it without getting stuck: no person, no animal, no wagon. The river that swept through the village was murky with mud. This time of the month was more to the needs of the snails and frogs, and any other animal that delighted in the gloomy weather.

It was the wet season in Oshuu, which meant that winter was drawing near. The air was cold, and the rain made it worse. No one liked getting wet when it was cold outside.

Lightning flashed elsewhere, followed not by thunder, but by a distraught cry. The general of the Oshuu army had locked himself inside a dark room. Nobody was getting in anytime soon to find out what was troubling him so.

He knew that his men were worried; he could hear them yelling to him frantically from outside. He was in a terrible state, uncomprehending. He dragged himself across the glass littered floor. The jagged pieces of porcelain cut shallow wounds into his skin. He grabbed a fistful of the shards, crushing them in one large fist. The pain in his hand was not enough to distract him from the pain in his chest.

"You... lied... to me..." he breathed out, choking on the last phrase. He opened his hand, the shards falling onto the wooden floor. He stared at them blankly then rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling.

"You... said that you would never leave me... you said that you would always be here you – you _lied_ to me, damn it!"

Lighting crackled through his body and he closed his eye tightly to control himself. The crackling eased away, but his chest still ached with an unnameable pain. His right eye itched.

_'My right eye... my right... eye...'_

He sat up suddenly and ripped off the eye patch, flinging it furiously at the wall. It hardly made a sound as it hit the wood before flopping uselessly to the floor. He glared at it for several minutes, the rain continuing outside and the lightning and thunder continuing their conversation. The lightning called and the thunder always answered.

Slowly the general's lone blue eye widened and he clapped his bleeding hand over his right eye, lower lip quivering. He realized what he'd done and he scrambled to his feet to run over to the eye patch. He fumbled with the broken straps, trying to tie it back around his head to hide his hideous right eye. It held for a pathetic ten seconds, before the straps unfurled and the eye patch floated onto his lap.

Angry tears spilled from his left eye. He pounded his fists against the wall, holding back screams that wanted to be let out. He collapsed onto his side, sobbing, covering his right eye with one hand and clutching the eye patch tightly in the other.

"How could you... do this to me? How could you – you, who I trusted so fucking much how could you... how could you... _betray me like this!_"

He couldn't hold back the crackling lightning in his body, and it shot out of his right eye. He fell onto his back, screaming and writhing in pain, his right eye crying bloody tears.

_The lightning called and the thunder always answered,_ but there was no more thunder. Only the rain, that couldn't comfort because the lightning didn't want to be comforted.

Finally the pain in the general's right eye subsided. After several deep breaths he got a hold of himself. He slowly stood, the eye patch fluttering forgotten to the floor.

He approached the wardrobe directly in front of him. He pulled it open to reveal his armor, staring back at him proudly. He reached up with his blood caked hand to trace the jagged, circular design on the back. His helmet – the crescent moon that struck fear into every other army – sat on the shelf above the rest of the armor. It was glaring glory back at the distraught man staring at it.

"_I am what you are. You cannot abandon me,"_ it seemed to be saying. The general lowered his gaze to the swords, unable to look any longer at his reflection.

His six claws; his power. Everyone knew of his prowess on the battlefield. He reached for those swords with both hands, and grasped those familiar sheaths in a firm grip.

His glory - he could leave that behind.

His pride - he could leave that as well.

But he could _not_ leave his power. He couldn't leave the one thing that he had worked so bloody hard to achieve. Half-blind, mocked by others and still he fought his way to the top of his army, to the top of _his_ clan, and seized the title of general, and all the glory and pride that came with it.

He closed his eye, his grip on the swords tightening.

_'Lightning is nothing without thunder.'_

He opened his eye, and looked at his reflection again. Gone was the cocky, arrogant youth that was known by everyone and feared everywhere. He was replaced by a grim-faced, humbled man, who finally understood how one woman in particular felt.

There was a high chance she was dead by now, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try to look for her.

He closed the doors on his past.

It took him an hour to prepare. He dressed in all black, a shade that would make him invisible in the rain. The cloak he had scrounged for under the floorboards was black as well. He had picked up the eye patch and stuck it in the top of his pants, to the side. The hand that had been bleeding he had washed and wrapped in bandages – he had washed his face as well with what little water was left in the porcelain bowl. His swords were in their proper places on his hips.

As he quietly made his way to the hidden doors on the opposite side of the building, his eye caught the glint of metal from a set of gloves he knew so well. Unthinking he walked to them and picked one up, holding it against his cheek. He swallowed thickly. He could almost feel the comforting embrace that had supported him and helped him through his childhood. He would never feel that embrace again.

He set the glove back down on the table he had picked it up from with a shaking hand and strode swiftly to the hidden doors. He slid them open, glanced around, and hopped out into the rain. As soon as his bare feet touched the slippery ground he ran. He held his left hand under his cloak, to keep the scroll in his hand from getting wet. His footprints would be tracked easily by his men.

He slowed to a walk as the rain began to let up. By this time, he had reached the woods, just on the outskirts of Oshuu territory. He pulled the scroll out from under his cloak and stared at it.

He could still go back. He could keep his fame and his glory and his pride. He clenched his hand around the scroll. No, he couldn't do it. He had to find her. He had to, before what was left of his heart shattered.

He fit the scroll into a nook in a tree branch and pulled the eye patch from the top of his pants. He stared at it, and all the terrible memories it held. He placed it on the tree branch with the scroll.

"Date Masamune, leader of Oshuu, is no more. You see?" then he disappeared into the thicket, abandoning his duties.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

How long had he been walking again? It felt like hours.

_'My feet hurt...'_ he looked down at them. They were caked in mud, had bits of leaves sticking to them and were probably cut all over the bottom. They really hurt.

On top of that, he was exhausted. He didn't know how much longer he could continue. He'd been to several villages already, and no one in any of them had seen anyone that looked like Azai's widow. At this rate, he wasn't going to find her. It was safe to assume she was dead.

After that thought Masamune was overcome by dizziness. He tripped on a tree root and fell to the ground. His eye closed. He didn't have the strength to get back up.

_'Should have worn shoes... should have... slept more... so tired...'_

Something cold and wet dropped on Masamune's back. Shortly after that he heard the starts of rain beginning to fall and he cursed his bad luck. He rolled over, staring up at the sky through the canopy. It started to rain harder, pouring over his tired body and washing the mud off his face, slipping past his hair. He slowly blinked his eye; it felt nice, to feel that coolness running into his head and down his throat.

Off to the side he heard a soft squelching sound.

_'Footsteps?'_ his mind was working but his mouth wasn't. His eye refused to stay open any longer. His lips quirked up at one side in a smirk, _'oh well, today's my bad day. I guess I'll die here.'_

Perhaps he would just die in his sleep. He was hungry too.

The sound of the footsteps drew closer, then stopped. Masamune's left hand twitched and he heard the footsteps again, coming closer still. A wave of adrenaline rushed through Masamune's body. Even though the footsteps could mean safety, they could also belong to the enemy.

Whoever it was stopped next to him. They were a big person; Masamune couldn't feel the rain on his face anymore. He tried to open his eye. When he did manage to crack it open, he could only make out a large silhouette. This person was obviously a man from his size.

He appeared to look more closely at Masamune's face and only then did Masamune remember that his hair was probably not covering his right eye. This man – would he leave him here now?

Masamune tried to roll onto his side, but the man suddenly dropped to one knee and touched warm fingers to his cheek. Masamune tried to see his features more clearly and he deduced that the man was not Japanese. His eyes looked different.

The man looked up at the sky. He looked like he was debating with himself about something. Masamune panicked inwardly. The man wouldn't leave him here, would he? His left hand twitched again, and the man looked back down at him. Masamune stared at him, hopeful.

Large hands removed the swords from Masamune's belt and set them to the side. Then he stared at Masamune, his forehead furrowing in thought. Masamune was starting to see him more clearly, and still the man did not look Japanese. The man's eyes kept on looking Masamune over, and stopped more than once at his feet.

"Don't... leave me..." Masamune managed to say in a whisper. The man's eyes rested on his face again, his eyes scrutinizing and hard. He set a hand on Masamune's forehead and pushed back his hair, his expression softening. Masamune's eye widened. The man was looking more closely at his right eye. Masamune tried to recoil but the man had slipped an arm under his shoulders; with the other he reached for Masamune's swords, attaching them to his belt.

Once his left arm was free of the swords, the man wedged his arm under Masamune's knees, easily lifting off the ground. As he started to walk away he focused his eyes on Masamune and spoke.

"I wasn't going to," his voice was a deep husky baritone. He was warm and sturdy; obviously a warrior. Masamune leaned against him, closing his eye. He was so tired, he might as well sleep.

Masamune awoke moments later to the sound of voices all around him. Something warm was covering his right eye. He couldn't understand what was being said. The man carrying him was speaking to whoever was around him. Masamune could hear the deep rumble of the man's voice in his chest. He sounded a bit... concerned?

Very slim and very cold fingers touched Masamune's neck then, and he fell into unconsciousness.

**

* * *

**

"Careful, careful! Don't burn his feet!"

"I'm trying not to but... see, I think he's ticklish."

_'What? Ticklish? Damn, I feel so warm...'_ Masamune's eye cracked open. There was someone behind him, and he guessed that this someone was a girl, since men did not have soft chests. He felt blood rush to his face when he focused on the feeling of her breasts against his back; they were very soft.

The person behind him leaned forward a bit, long, straight black hair falling over Masamune's left shoulder.

"Hey, he's awake," she informed the two people at his feet, her voice pleasant to listen to. Masamune leaned more heavily against her, breathing out.

"He is? Oh, then this is going to hurt," the man to Masamune's right said. A searing pain then shot up Masamune's leg. He cursed loudly, and despite the fact that he sat up straight, the girl behind him managed to keep her hand securely clamped over his right eye. The woman to the left scowled at the man.

"All right, you've done enough. I do believe that was the last infection. Let me take over from here; make yourself useful and go get Kent," the woman – who was very beautiful with bright hazel eyes and auburn colored curly hair – shooed the man out. He got up grudgingly and left the room. Masamune stared at the woman, whose hands were now glowing a faint white. He shivered as a chill went into his feet.

"You..." he croaked, before coughing. The girl behind him reached for something and then held it to his lips.

"Here, drink this. It's tea," she said in his ear. Masamune tipped his head back and the girl carefully poured the hot liquid into his mouth. His throat felt so much better after that. The woman had focused her bright hazel eyes on him.

"What were you going to say, dear?" she asked, rotating her hands around his feet. Masamune watched her for a moment, noticing a grayish hue in her auburn locks before he replied.

"You were the one who knocked me out, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was," she frowned lightly, looking down at his feet, "you had quite a few infections. We had to burn them off because they were so dry. Even after we soaked your feet in hot water," she pulled her hands away, gently poking Masamune's feet with her pointer finger. His feet twitched in response.

"I guess you are a little ticklish," she looked up when the door to the room slid open. Masamune looked as well, to see the man that had carried him to this village entering the room. He looked at the woman as Masamune observed him.

His hair was a very dark brown, short and mostly swept away from his face. Some strands of hair rested against his forehead. His eyes rested on Masamune next and they stared at each other for several minutes. In the dim light the man's eyes looked almost black. He still wore that hard stoic expression – it was an expression that made Masamune think he was someone who had seen far too many battles and lost far too many loved ones.

_'What I _still_ can't get over is the fact that he's not Japanese...'_ Masamune tilted his head at the man.

"How is he?" the question was asked of the woman.

"I think he'll be much better if he takes a bath. I did heal up his feet – oh! Hello there, children," she was smiling at a group of kids that had converged behind the man. Some of them were eagerly looking at Masamune. He tried to get a better look at the kids, but the girl behind Masamune still refused to let him get up.

"Mum, we found this in one of the wardrobe's," a little girl squeezed past the man and offered the woman a leather eye patch. Masamune felt a pang in his chest at seeing it; it reminded him of the one he had left behind. He smothered a snort in his hand, _'wonder what the men are doing right now. Running around frantically like idiots? Heh...'_

The woman smiled at the girl as the man gently pried the eye patch out of the girl's hand, "did you wash it too?"

"Un! Sorry, it's kind of cold..." Masamune blinked when he realized that the girl had spoken to him. She rocked a little on her feet, looking up at him shyly with big brown eyes. He managed a smirk at her and spoke.

"Thanks."

She giggled happily and ran back outside to the other kids. Masamune stared after them, feeling a sense of longing. What he wouldn't give to be a child again.

Suddenly the woman got up; the girl behind Masamune tapped his back, her hand lifting a bit from his right eye. He quickly slid a hand under hers to cover his eye and sat up straight so she could leave with the woman.

"Take him to the onsen after, will you? I don't want him walking on his feet on this dirt. In the meantime, we'll find other clothes for him to wear."

"_Hou_," the man was at Masamune's side in one stride; he knelt down next to the futon, the leather eye patch clenched loosely in his hand.

"I suppose I should introduce myself. The name's Kent, call me anything else and I will smack you upside the head," his lips quirked up at one side, but Masamune was sure that the man was incapable of smiling. And laughing.

"... Masamune," he managed after a moment. Kent raised an eyebrow in question and held the eye patch in front of Masamune.

"You might as well move your hand. I've already gotten a pretty good look at your right eye," Kent informed him. Masamune cringed, but reached out with his hand to take the eye patch from Kent. As Masamune secured the eye patch around his head Kent stood. Masamune looked up at him, smirking.

"I suppose you're going to carry me again, Kent-sa" - Kent's mouth twitched in a snarl, making Masamune tense and correct his wording - "Kent."

"Obviously," the grin that spread over his lips was not kind, "you don't seem too thrilled about the idea of being carried."

Masamune snorted, "I'm a man, you see? I have my pride..."

"Indeed you do. But what Kaa-sama says, goes," Kent easily picked Masamune up, in a similar fashion to how he had when he found him.

"Kaa-sama?" Masamune repeated, "that woman?"

Kent chuckled, "everyone here calls her that. Some to annoy her, others out of respect."

Masamune narrowed his eye, "you... like to annoy her, then?"

Kent didn't reply, his mouth keeping in a straight line. Masamune looked around, noticing that the village was quite empty.

"It's... rather empty," he commented, trying to start some kind of conversation.

"That's because the villagers left to do some harvesting. And to keep the children occupied. Everyone wants to know why I wouldn't let them see your eye."

Masamune stared at him, "you wouldn't let them see my eye?"

Kent nodded, looking down at him, "you _did_ try to roll over and then recoil when I moved your hair, or did you forget that?"

Masamune half glared, "no, I didn't forget that..."

"I figured it was because you would have preferred that I didn't see your eye."

"I would have..."

Kent stopped walking. Masamune glanced at him. He had acquired a calculating expression, his lips slightly parted. He started walking again, looking ahead.

"What's with that tone? You sound like that eye caused you nothing but trouble all your life."

"That's because it _did_, you see?" Masamune hissed. Kent smiled lightly – _'well, what do you know? He _can_ smile.'_

"You remind me of myself."

Masamune didn't say anything. He recognized the building that he was being taken to; all onsen buildings looked the same. Kent entered the building after gliding up the steps.

Masamune looked around the room they had walked into. It was well stocked for such a small village. Kent didn't take anything off the shelves; he just walked straight into the room where the onsen was.

"Huh. It's inside?"

"Yes. It gets quite cold up here in the winter, so on the coldest days everyone comes in here to keep warm."

Masamune stared at him in surprise, "really?"

"Mm."

"Oh... interesting. Um..."

"I suppose I should tell you, that it's shared. The people in this village aren't shy. Especially not the girls."

Masamune was tempted to punch Kent when the older man looked away, his shoulders shaking slightly with silent laughter – Masamune could feel his ears turning red from embarrassment. Kent walked up to the edge of the hole in the floor and carefully set Masamune down on the edge. Masamune felt like his feet were on fire when they sank into the water. Kent gave his shoulder a pat and straightened.

"Your feet sting?"

"Yeah, 'cause my feet are cold," Masamune said bitterly, lifting his feet out of the water to look at them. They were already turning pinkish from the heat.

"Heh. The kids like to run outside and come dashing back in during the winter, just to feel that stinging on their feet. Don't ask me why. It's just one of the games they like to play," Kent began to walk away. Masamune called after him.

"So why didn't you just let everyone else see it?"

"I have my reasons."

Masamune scowled, "well, I suppose you _would_."

Kent chuckled as he left the building.

_'Great. Now I'm here all alone. What the heck am I supposed to do, huh?'_ he quickly became cross at himself for not putting shoes on before he left. He could have gotten ring worm, or worse. Knowing he'd had infections was bad enough. He sighed loudly.

"Gees... I could have been less careless," a door adjacent to were he sat opened, "hm?"

The girl with long black hair poked her head inside.

"Oh! Good, you're here..." she smiled brightly at him and disappeared. Masamune stared at the half-open door. She reappeared back first; Masamune took the time to appreciate her womanly curves. She glanced over her shoulder at him and he noticed that she was pulling in a trolley of sorts.

"I can feel that."

"Feel what?" he asked innocently, squinting his eye in an attempt to see her face. She scowled at him, though her smile remained.

"That gaze. It's quite intense," she flipped some hair over her shoulder, slowly making her way over to him. She was humming softly, the contents of her little trolley being two towels, several robes, zori, and various other things. Masamune's eye widened briefly.

_'Two towels...'_

"Uh..."

"What?" she looked down at him and blinked. Then she grinned widely, "oh sorry! My name's Megohime! Who might you be?"

Masamune smirked at her, crossing his arms over his chest, "Megohime, huh? There was a girl back where I came from called Megohime."

"Ah? Really? What did she look like?"

"She was... beautiful," Masamune admitted, looking away. He remembered that she had asked for his name, "I'm Masamune, by the way."

"Mm, nice name..."

Cloth falling to the ground reached Masamune's ears and he twitched. Megohime was suddenly in front of him, her arms on his legs. He stared at her in shock. She giggled.

"Hey, don't look at me like that! Kent warned you, right? We girls are not shy! Well... one of us is, but she went with a group of rogue shinobi to do some weapons training. They had a blade master with them. Anyway, I tend to babble," she rubbed the back of her neck and looked up at him, her dark blue eyes sparkling. Masamune was distracted by her mentioning of this "shy woman".

_'Could that possibly be-'_ his thoughts were interrupted by Megohime's voice, "say, do you need help getting out of that?"

Masamune blushed involuntarily, and cursed himself for doing so. It wasn't like the girl could read his mind, "pff, no, I don't need help getting out of this but um..." he sighed, "I might need help standing up..."

"Oh! Do your legs hurt?" she asked, getting out of the water. Masamune averted his gaze as she bent over to wrap her arms around his.

"I don't mind if you look. Besides, everyone in this village has seen everyone else. Better you get used to it now."

"Right then," he looked her up and down. She really was a beautiful girl. Her skin looked supple and her breasts... Masamune chuckled to himself as they both struggled to get him to his feet. Once on his feet he looked her over more closely, raising his hand tentatively.

"You wouldn't mind if I...?" he touched her shoulder with one calloused hand, looking hard at her. She tilted her head at him, unabashed and shrugged. He traced his hands over the shape of her shoulders and over her collarbones, then raised a hand to touch her face.

_'Nice shape she's got... I guess being half-blind has it's quirk,'_ touch had always been important to him. To feel how someone was built made it easier for him. That, and he used his half-blindness as an excuse to touch the girls.

He dropped his hands away from her and struggled to take his shirt off. Megohime wordlessly helped him get it over his head – his back was protesting his movements. He really needed to stretch.

Masamune felt Megohime's fingers prodding at his back, "hm... your muscles are really tense. Hey, don't stress yourself; I'm used to doing things like this, you know? Looking after the injured. The woman who healed you was my mother so..." she started untying to cloth belt around Masamune's waist as he shrugged.

"If you're comfortable with it."

She giggled, "'course I am!"

He stepped out of his pants and looked down at her when she tugged down his under garments. She had his shirt and pants already draped over her arm. As she walked to her trolley she gestured towards the water.

"Well, get in. That mud isn't going to remove itself you know."

Masamune chuckled lightly at this and eased into the pool of hot water while Megohime reorganized some items on her trolley. The water felt nice against his aching muscles. He caught movement in the corner of his eye and noticed that Megohime had wrapped a towel around her body. She gathered up a few things in her arms and walked over to him.

He looked back so he could see her. She had a ladle in one hand; her other hand touched his cheek.

"You look really tired, Masamune."

"I am tired," he admitted. She frowned a little. Pretty girls like her shouldn't be frowning, he decided.

"Relax, then. I'll have no problems washing you, so you can rest."

"Thanks," he muttered in English. She was a fast worker. He liked how she massaged his scalp as she washed his hair. He heard her giggle behind him.

"Don't fall asleep on me," she was washing the soap out of his hair now, "I don't think I'll be able to wake you. And I just might take that eye patch of yours off."

He tensed, _'what would you say if you did? You would run off screaming, wouldn't you?'_ but those were questions he would never be able to ask. He forced a smirk instead, turning his head.

"Why would you do that?" he asked. She poked her finger under his eye patch then removed the finger before responding.

"I like how it feels."

He twisted his head around the other way so he could look at her with his left eye; she was busy rubbing a bar of soap against a cloth. When she looked up she must have been startled at his expression.

"You _what?_" he demanded. No one who had ever felt the skin around his eye said that they liked how it felt – especially not his mother. His mother had been repelled by the feeling. She gave him a curious look before leaning forward – giving him a perfect view of her cleavage – and rubbing at the mud on his neck.

"Do you have a nickname?"

"Huh? Yeah."

"And what's that?"

"... Dokuganryuu," he informed her slowly, suspicious of why she had asked.

"Your eye feels like dragon scale. I know this may sound weird for me to say, because I'm a girl, but I like how scaly animals feel. Like snakes and fish. I always found that interesting," she dipped the cloth into the water before continuing her task on his shoulders, "can I see it?"

"No."

She glanced up at him, a puppy-like expression on her face.

"Please?"

"No."

"Meanie," she stuck her tongue out at him while she rinsed out the cloth and before smothering the soap in it again. Masamune chuckled softly and relaxed against the edge of the onsen.

Megohime's hands appeared on his chest. He attempted to sit up straighter but she wouldn't let him. Slowly her hands – and the cloth – descended lower and lower and lower -

He grabbed her wrists, glaring at her sideways.

"There are some things I can do myself, you see?" he informed her while wrestling the cloth out of her hands. She pouted.

"But I – this is something I do often..." she looked down at her lap, dejected. Masamune turned.

"Hime, look. I was used to it too – back when I was five years old. Gimme a break; I'm a man, you see?" he gestured downwards because obviously she had _seen _that this was true. She blushed and looked away, prompting him to laugh loudly.

"Hah! You _are_ shy!" he laughed all the more when she slapped at his chest.

_'Eh, wait. What about her. She's not just here to give _me_ a bath is she?'_ he leaned against the stone floor, "you aren't just here to give _me_ a bath, are you? What about yourself?"

"Myself wasn't as important as you, I suppose. But if you insist..." she rose and tugged at the towel. Free of it she folded it and walked back over to her trolley, where she set it on the left of the trolley, since his clothes were on the right. She grabbed a different cloth and another bar of soap before sitting on the edge of the pool. Masamune stared at her for a moment, wondering how she was so comfortable. Sure, Kent had told him that the women in the village weren't shy, but this wasn't what he had expected.

_'Not that I'm going to admit I'm a little nervous, no... it's not my fault she's gorgeous,'_ he peeked at her again; this time she noticed. She blinked and looked up at him, then smiled and shook her head.

"Shy boy," she stated before hopping off her perch and wading into the middle of the pool, turning around so she faced away from him. He scowled at her back.

_'I'm not shy!' _he thought furiously while washing where he would much rather she not. Once he was done he rinsed out the cloth, folded it and set it on the edge of the pool. He looked at Megohime. She was resting against the edge of the pool, her hair floating on the water. He half-swam over to her, fitting his chin in the nook her neck and shoulder made.

"I'm not shy," he said, watching as her eyes fluttered open. She turned around to face him, forcing him to lean back. He glanced down at her chest as she spoke.

"Oh? You seem pretty shy to me," Masamune didn't reply. He was too distracted by the pretty little black dot on the inner side of her left breast.

_'Now how come I didn't notice that before? Hello little black dot,'_ he lowered his head to look more closely at it.

"... what are you looking at?" Megohime's voice was shaky. Masamune raised his head and poked her mole.

"You, have a mole."

"D-don't point that thing out!" she hissed, covering her breasts with her hand. Masamune blinked and looked up at her face. It was red. He poked her cheek, smirking.

"Now look who's shy."

"It's ugly!"

"Huh? I was told they were beauty marks."

"Beauty... marks?" she repeated in surprise. His smiled broadly at her.

"Yes, beauty marks. Did you wash your hair, girl?" he asked, changing the subject. She lifted some of it in her hand.

"No..."

"I'll do it for you."

"Huh?"

"Returning the favor."

She opened her mouth to argue but he was already out of the water with the other towel securely tied around his waist, the powdered, fragrant soap in one hand. He dared her to argue with his lone blue eye; she closed her mouth and turned so her back was facing the pool edge. Masamune picked up the ladle and moved to sit behind her.

"This is the first time," she muttered as he poured water over the top of her head, "that I ever let a man wash my hair."

Masamune couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"I feel honored, really," he started massaging the soap into her scalp.

"My hair's thick," she informed him. He shrugged and gathered it all up in his hands. He had poured all the powder on her scalp so it would be easier for him to spread it all through her hair. The fragrance of the soap wafted up to his nose. It smelled flowery.

"What the hell is this small?"

"Lavender."

"... so you mean I smell like a flower now?"

"Yes, you smell like a flower. Perhaps I should have used rose on you," she added cheekily, glancing back at him. He pouted at her.

"No thanks."

"I will next time."

"No you won't."

"Yes I will."

He shut her up by releasing her hair, picking up the ladle and proceeding to pour water all over her head. She huffed through the curtain of water, complaining lightly. He hummed lowly as he made sure to get all the suds out of her hair.

An hour later found him finally dressed in clothes that fit. Megohime's mother had given the girl some bread, cheese, ham and tea, which she mostly gave to Masamune. He glared at her every time she started giggling; he couldn't help wolfing down the food. He was starved.

Afterwards they talked for a bit, and she asked about the other swords that Kent had been carrying. When he told her that they were his and he held three in each hand, she grabbed on of his hands to inspect.

"No wonder your hands are so big," she mumbled to herself, turning over his left hand. He stared at her in silence. Suddenly she glared up at him.

"Why don't you smile? Or laugh?"

Masamune was taken aback by the outburst and didn't know how to respond. They had since left the bath house and were in the room where he would be staying – which was, apparently, attached to the room Kent stayed in.

Masamune opened his mouth to speak – _'but I was smiling and laughing... kind of!'_ - only to have another voice beat him to an answer, "perhaps that's because he's abandoned his army and fled from a war?"

Both Masamune and Megohime whipped their heads around to stare at Kent in shock. He was leaning casually in the doorway, wearing an open shirt and loose pants.

"If you don't mind, Meg, I'd ask you to leave," he glanced at Masamune, "I need to talk to him."

"H-hai!" she picked up the over coat she had brought with her and scurried out of the room. Kent took a step in before sliding the door closed behind him.

"Before you ask, your swords are in my room with my armor."

"... how... did you know why... I..." Masamune could hardly put the question together, his eye shaking. Kent released a breath from his nose.

_'That's just... that's crazy, really crazy...'_ Masamune swallowed, "Hime's a little confused. I _was_ laughing and smiling -"

"What she probably means is that your smile is fake and your laugh is forced," Kent interrupted, giving Masamune a look, "I examined your swords. They are the swords of Date, aren't they? So if my guess is correct, you are Date Masamune, the Dokuganryuu, general of the Oshuu army?"

"... that would be me," Masamune said quietly, glaring at his feet. Kent wasn't supposed to know that. Masamune had already abandoned that title of Dokuganryuu, and everything with it. He didn't want to remember who he _was _and who others expected him to be. Kent took a step towards him, eyes narrowing.

"Then the only reason I can think of for you being here is that you abandoned your army," he sat down next to Masamune, on the strange bed, "sorry about this bed. As you may have noticed, I'm not Japanese."

"I did notice. Your eyes... so crazy," Masamune muttered. Kent gave him a look.

"You have an interesting habit. That is, speaking in English."

"Your Japanese is really good. How long have you been here, huh?" Masamune retorted, giving Kent a half-hearted glare.

"Twenty years. I was a stowaway on a ship that was going to China. I wasn't exactly an honest eighteen year old. The boat was attacked in the middle of the night and the crew shipwrecked. I got stuck on a large piece of wood, and a group of Japanese sailors found me. They took me to a port where I learned Japanese. I was here around the time that the West and the East were finally making contact, in case you're wondering how I was taught Japanese," Kent's lips quirked up at one corner, prompting Masamune to tilt his head.

_'He smiles even less then I do...'_ Masamune continued to stare at Kent. His coal black eyes were a bit unnerving; if it weren't for the shape of his eyes, Masamune would have mistaken him for a Japanese man. His dark brown hair, combined with those coal black eyes and tanned skin made him look anything but Western.

"I see something has wounded you deeply," Kent observed after a moment of silence.

"Ah! That – that..." Masamune looked away, thinking hurriedly, _'change the subject, damn it!'_

Masamune coughed lightly, "if you've been in Japan for twenty years... how come this weird bed?"

Due to the unimpressed glint Masamune saw in Kent's eyes, the older man obviously knew that Masamune had deliberately changed the subject. He said nothing about it and answered Masamune's question instead, "my back was the problem, actually. Still is. I can sleep on hard ground but not hard wood floor."

"I see..."

"Well, you should get some rest," Kent said, standing. He walked over to the door that led to his room, glancing over his shoulder at Masamune, "if you need me, just wake me up."

"If I need you...?"

Kent smiled suspiciously, "kid, I'm nearly twenty years your senior, right? You're nineteen, aren't you?"

Masamune jumped to his feet, glaring, "you! How do you -?"

"Because, I have a nephew your age."

"A nephew?" Masamune blinked, "where is he?"

Kent laughed, a nice mellow sound, sliding open the door – it was the first time Masamune had heard him laugh, "with the army _I _left," he nodded and then stepped into the room, sliding the door closed behind him. Masamune collapsed back onto the bed behind him, shaking.

"... you're a general too?" Masamune muttered under his breath, staring at the closed door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Masamune forced his lone blue eye to open. Someone was shaking him – gently, not violently. A soft voice was calling his name.

"Masamune."

It was quite dark in his room. He groaned and rolled onto his side. Whoever was next to him giggled.

"Masamune, you aren't much of a morning person are you?"

"Hnngh, no..." he replied, half-awake. The bed dipped on the side and suddenly he was being leaned over. A hand deliberately stroked the eye patch. He was awake instantly.

Megohime shrieked a bit when Masamune bolted into a sitting position. He raked a hand through his hair.

"I'm up."

He looked at Megohime – now on the floor – and blinked. She was snickering at him.

"You don't have to be so rude," she informed him. Masamune frowned.

"You don't have to crawl over me and attempt to take my eye patch off," he snapped back. Surprisingly his tone made her giggle. She rose and dusted herself off.

"You really aren't a morning person! You're so grumpy," she informed him, moving toward him to set his hair straight. He let her, until it seemed like she was trying to take his eye patch off. He slapped her hands held her hands up in surrender.

"Sorry, sorry. I just wanted to see how it attached."

"You would have taken it off. I'm pretty sure you would have, you see?" he bared his teeth at her. She pouted and huffed.

"Fine. I'm going to wake Kent up."

"Wake who?"

Masamune jumped a little when he saw Kent standing in the doorway that connected their rooms. One of his eyebrows was raised.

"I've been up for a while already. Besides, Meg, I thought I told you to stop waking me up in the morning. I wake up at different times of day everyday."

The girl humphed and left Masamune's room via the door that lead to the deck. Masamune now felt the chill of a frosty morning as a breeze swept into his room. He shivered. He hated the cold.

"I supposed Meg wants to make use of you."

"Huh?" Masamune looked at Kent, half-glaring. Kent chuckled.

"This isn't your time of day, I can see. No one will bother you, except maybe the cold air. Oh, and another thing," Kent had turned half-way back into his room, "try not to snap at the kids. If they wander around you, just know it's because they've never seen someone who had to wear an eye patch before."

Masamune sighed lightly as Kent quietly slid the door shut. He fell back against the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

_'It sure is chilly outside...'_ he propped himself up on his elbows to find one young boy standing in the middle of the open doorway – he silently cursed Megohime for not closing the door – while four other kids poked their heads around. They appeared cautious, but the young boy in the middle took a small step forward.

Masamune's usual reaction would be to snap at them, but with Kent in the next room and the determined expression on the little boy's face made Masamune hold back on snapping, _'times like these I wish I were more of a morning person... they look almost scared of me...'_ he exchanged stares with the kids while thinking of what to say.

One child was a girl, her hair long and a rusty brown color. The other four were boys. The one nearest to the girl had curly hair of the same color as hers, so he assumed they were siblings. He looked like the youngest of the group. The boy slowly approaching him had messy, platinum blonde hair. His bangs were swept away from his face, revealing sparkling blue eyes.

The other two boys looked identical, both with cropped black hair, though one had spiked his upwards. They looked to be the oldest, possibly around thirteen or fourteen.

"... what?" Masamune managed to ask in a normal tone of voice. The blonde boy had stopped approaching. At the sound of Masamune's voice he eagerly scampered over to the bed. He had something behind his back and after a moment of staring he produced a roll of some sort from behind his back. He held it up to Masamune.

"Here!"

Masamune blinked at it. He threw the covers off and sat on the edge of the bed. He accepted the roll, which nearly burned his hand it was so hot. He was used to holding hot foods though, and hot dishes, so the heat really didn't affect him.

_'But the boy...'_ he stuck the roll in his mouth and grabbed the boy's wrists before he could get away. If not for the roll in his mouth Masamune would have made a sound of sympathy. The boy's palms were burned.

"Mama told me it was too hot to pick up but I picked it up anyway," the boy explained as Masamune got up. He walked over to the dresser next to the wardrobe and rummaged around in the drawers, finding bandages in one of them. He walked back over to the bed and sat back down. He gestured for the boy's hands. The boy raised them, almost guiltily.

While Masamune wrapped his blistered hands in the bandages the boy spoke, "my name is Akio."

Masamune nodded his head. Akio tilted his head to one side, "what's your name?"

In order to speak Masamune had to hold the roll in one hand.

"Masamune," then he stuck the roll back in his mouth, returning to his task of bandaging Akio's hands. From the doorway he then heard several voices speak out.

"Kouji."

"Kenshin."

"Chouko, and this is my little brother Daisuke."

Masamune looked up at the other four kids, who now stood in the doorway. He looked between Kenshin and Kouji, trying to figure out who was who. The two teenagers noticed and the one with spiked hair smiled. He pointed at himself.

"I'm Kouji."

"I'm Kenshin," his twin mimicked, pointing at himself. Masamune couldn't resist smiling at the group; he pushed Akio toward the others as he had finished bandaging his hands. The five kids gave him various smiles before departing off, Akio in a run with Kenshin chasing him, while Kouji lifted Daisuke onto his shoulders and Chouko clung to his shirt. Masamune finally started eating the roll, finding that it had cheese and chopped sausages in the middle. Despite the scalding heat, the roll was delicious.

The door adjacent to where he sat slid open. Kent poked his head inside to see Masamune with the roll.

"Brought you breakfast did they?"

Masamune coughed lightly, red tinging his cheeks, "yeah, they did."

"So who did you meet? I could hear the twins."

"Kouji and Kenshin?"

"Hai, those two. Once you hear them talk a lot you'll notice that their voices actually differ in tone."

"Hey, are their eyes different colors?"

"That too."

"Heh," Masamune looked down at his feet, "Chouko... how old is she?"

Kent quirked an eyebrow, "she's about ten. I didn't think you would be able to notice much with that lonely eye of yours."

Masamune glared, "I see quite a bit with it, thanks."

Kent gave him a look; Masamune shrugged, though he couldn't keep his ears from turning slightly red. Chouko was a very busty ten year old. Kent leaned against the door frame.

"I guess Daisuke was here if his sister was. And the last kid, Akio? He's quite good with a katana. He's twelve."

Masamune raised his head at this information, _'if he can use a sword then...'_

"Can these villagers fight?" he asked. Kent had a certain look in his eye, like he had known that mentioning how Akio could use a katana would pique Masamune's interest.

"Yes, they can. Kaa-sama prefers to use a javelin a her weapon. Of course, the weapon would be a lot easier to wield if she had a horse..." his voice trailed off. A man had just walked right past Masamune's open door. He reappeared a moment later, bright eyes seeking Kent.

"Ah, Kent! Hayate is back."

"Hayate...? Without the rogues?" Kent probed, apparently confused. Masamune stood – he had finished the roll – and walked over to the wardrobe. He pulled out the same shirt he had worn yesterday, and pulled it on over his pants.

_'The rogues? Like, rogue shinobi?'_

"Hai, he came back without them. I think he heard that another general had shown up here."

Kent sighed, "where is he?"

"Shall I bring him?" the man asked eagerly, his eyes resting on Masamune for a moment.

"Since you really seem to want him to meet our new guest, you might at well, Katsuo."

"Hai!" Katsuo ran off in the direction he had come, calling out to this Hayate character. Masamune looked at Kent.

"Who's Hayate?"

"Why spoil it for you? He'll introduce himself when he gets here," Kent replied, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms over his chest. Masamune stared at him; he was such a stoic man. It was almost like Kent had something against smiling.

The sound of armor clinking together made Masamune look at his open door. A fully armored man, probably older than Masamune, appeared in the doorway then. His helmet covered his face completely, though Masamune could see the slits that allowed the man under the suit to see. His body was so covered in armor that Masamune wondered how in the world he managed to move.

There was a great sword sheathed on his back, various shinobi weapons strapped to the armor on his thighs, and on his arms were strange blades that probably served at both shields and vicious weapons. He raised his arms to remove his helmet, revealing that he was closer in age to Masamune, his eyes bright green and his hair a dirty blonde. He smiled broadly at Masamune.

"I'm Hayate, a blade master. Who might you be? Some of the kids have been running around going on about someone called Masamune," he held his helmet under his arm, bowing slightly. He seemed like a kind man.

"That would be me. Date Masamune," he paused before adding, "the Dokuganryuu."

Hayate's eyes widened, "Dokuganryuu? I've heard things about what a tough opponent you are on the battlefield."

"Heh, well, former glory days," Masamune muttered, averting his gaze. Hayate was smart enough not to touch anymore on the subject. Masamune caught sight of him nodding his head before he focused his bright green gaze on Kent.

"The rogues will be returning a bit earlier than scheduled. It's not that we ran into any problems, so don't get worried, it's just that, with the clouds the way they are right now, we're worried a storm might be coming in. I came back to make myself useful in the fields."

"Fields?" Masamune asked. If it was work he should do some too. Hayate looked at him, a smile on his lips and a hopeful look in his eyes.

"You'd help?"

"'Course. I mean, these people only saved my life."

At this Hayate and Kent both laughed; Masamune smirked. Kent walked over to the open door, gesturing to Masamune. Once Masamune reached the door Hayate slung his arm over his shoulders.

"Well, we'll have to see what Kaa-sama says about your feet," Kent said, glancing over his shoulder at the two of them.

"His feet?" Hayate asked. Kent nodded.

"Mm. He smartly ran around in the woods barefoot," Masamune would have elbowed Kent in the stomach if the man wasn't ahead of him.

Masamune found out that "Kaa-sama"'s name was Sanae, and according to all the happily gossiping girls in the village, Kent liked her.

"Well, is that rumor true?" Masamune asked her once the girls wandered off after Hayate. Sanae sighed.

"If only, if only, Masamune-kun. It's the other way around, actually. Kent's heart is taken by another; though I don't know who she is."

Masamune frowned, "I wonder if she's with the army he left?"

Sanae nodded, "most probably. I doubt she's the reason _why_ he left though. Ah, well, maybe if you see him training you'll see what I mean; for now, I'll take you to the fields. But don't you dare take those zori off."

"Hai, Kaa-sama, I won't think of doing such a thing, you see?"

Masamune's willingness to work in the fields was welcomed by the villagers. It wasn't everyday that a strong young man stumbled upon their village. Masamune worked non-stop until Kent wrestled the hoe he was using to make grooves in the ground out of his hands. Without the hoe in his hands Masamune nearly collapsed; Kent caught him and carried him back to the room, chiding him about working himself to exhaustion.

From the tone in Kent's voice, Masamune could tell the man was frustrated, _'that, and he threw me over his shoulder.'_

"Hey, if I'm exhausted I don't think. So I'll have a dreamless sleep. That's better than thinking. I don't want to think. If I'm exhausted and that keeps me from thinking a single damn thought then I want to be exhausted," Masamune rambled in reply to the chiding. Kent fell silent. Masamune looked up at the back of his head, but what did he expect to see?

_'I wonder... if he'll tell me about his nephew?'_

"Oi, Kent."

"What?"

"Tell me about your nephew."

Kent set Masamune down; they had reached the room. The younger general latched onto the elder to steady himself.

"Why do you suddenly want to know about him?" Kent asked, suspicion in his voice. Masamune pursed his lips.

"I'm just curious, that's all. I _am_ allowed to be curious, right?"

Kent sighed and sat down on the bed; Masamune leaned against the dresser.

"His name is Mitch," Kent began, staring at the door across from him. Masamune blinked and Kent continued.

"He's a smart kid, and strong too. Also a ladies man," Kent chuckled and looked at Masamune, "he attracts women like a light attracts moths. He was recently promoted to a general... I'd never been more proud..." Kent went quiet.

Masamune stared at him in silence, his mind churning out thoughts, even though he didn't want it to. Mitch, Kent's nephew... seemed a bit like Masamune himself.

"My brother – his father – said it was all my fault that Mitch was a general. Kenneth always had this thought that Mitch was actually my son and not his but... he has his father's smile and eyes. He just spent most of his time with me. So when I decided to leave, the person I was worried about the most, aside from _her_ -" Kent stopped suddenly, turning his head to the side so Masamune could no longer see his face, "I don't know how Mitch reacted. If I know him as well as I think I do, he probably wants to kill me."

Masamune opened his mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out. He didn't know what to say, _'and what would I say to a man that thinks his own nephew wants to kill him?'_

Kent stood, his composure back in place, "since you're so tired you should get some rest. I'm assuming you'll do the same thing tomorrow?"

"Huh, maybe. Maybe me being here will turn me into a morning person," Masamune joked, hoping to get at least a sliver of a smile out of the man. He got a quirk of the lips.

"Maybe. Good night. Sleep well," Kent instructed as he entered his room. Masamune nodded at his back and crawled into the bed.

"Good night, Kent."

* * *

The next day Masamune was not awoken by Megohime, but by Daisuke and Chouko. The two children had snuggled into the bed with him, Daisuke on his chest and Chouko against his shoulder and neck. Despite hating waking up early, Masamune couldn't find it in himself to get angry with them.

They pestered him as he pulled on a shirt, then dragged him out to where all the villagers were – he let them. It was obvious that the kids were very keen on becoming friends with him.

The men and women had gathered together in one room, and were busily cooking food when the kids dragged him in. They welcomed him happily, getting him to sit down amongst them. Masamune found himself quickly surrounded by curious kids, Kouji offering him some tea. Hayate came sidling over to chat. Masamune found himself smiling as Hayate told him more about the rogues.

"So, what are they like?"

"The rogues? Mm, Merona is easily irritable, Gage is an emotionless prick, Syre is a bit of a pyromaniac, Ran hates butterflies of all things and Roman is... Roman is... like a tree..."

Masamune gave Hayate a look, "say, is there someone else with you? Whenever Kent mentions you guys he gets this tight, worried expression, you see?"

"Huh well... there _is_ another woman with us... we're trying to teach her how to harness her power properly. It's real difficult, she's so shy and I _swear_ she's scared of her power or something – oh, it looks like we're going," Hayate stood and brushed off his pants. Masamune pouted, standing as well, _'he's avoiding telling me who this woman is. That makes me mad.'_

In the middle of the day, during the workers lunch break, Megohime insisted on talking to Masamune. Though he knew that she really wanted to take his eye patch off, she had so far refrained from trying to remove it. She had brought over some bread and cheese, along with water. After speaking with him for a while, she left to distribute the water to other villagers.

This time, when Kent appeared in the fields, looking for Masamune, the younger man ran off. Kent chased after him, surprisingly, and soon everybody in the fields were chasing after each other. Kent was quite fast for a man close to forty, and he got in front of Masamune. He bent down and caught Masamune around the waist, hefting him onto his shoulder. Masamune was determined not to be caught and he wrestled Kent to the ground. The result of the chase was a dog pile on top of Kent; the older man was winded from laughing.

Hearing Kent laugh made Masamune feel proud of himself – he had finally gotten Kent to laugh almost happily.

The chasing had used up what was left of Masamune's energy, but he walked beside Kent on the way back to the rooms. Kent bid him goodnight at the door before continuing along the deck to the door to his room. Masamune didn't even bother taking off his shirt. He just slipped off his zori and collapsed face first onto the bed, falling once again into a dreamless sleep.

The following days repeated themselves in this matter, the kids waking Masamune up, working in the fields all day, and finding new ways to hide from Kent. Hayate departed from the village once again to see what the rogues were up to, and shortly after he left a storm started. Masamune was dragged off to the onsen by the villagers, and he found that what Megohime had said was right. Everybody had seen everyone already, including the kids.

As the sky grew darker the storm intensified. The twins showed Masamune a path he could take without getting too wet when it rained; Kent had stayed behind in the onsen to talk with the village's head.

"Well, we'll leave you alone then. I don't think we'll be able to do much work in the fields now because of this heavy rain," Kenshin informed him. Masamune nodded, entering his room.

"Same thing happens in Oshuu. The grounds gets too wet to do anything with, you see?"

The twins laughed, then left Masamune to his thoughts. Masamune crept into the bed, feeling tired. Lightning flashed outside, followed closely by thunder. Masamune clenched the blanket in his fist.

Thunder...

He closed his eyes tightly, _'stop thinking about that, damn it! Stop it...'_ he cringed when the image of flashing black light and a tormented cry filled his mind. He clenched the blankets more tightly.

He willed himself to think about Chouko and her beautiful smile. She was going to develop into a beautiful woman, and marry an amazing man and have children of her own...

_He gave her flowers and she smiled at him leaning down, her hands gripping his shoulders as she whispered in his ear._

"_I. Hate. You."_

Masamune bolted upright, taking a shuddering breath. The storm was still continuing outside; no candle light shone under the door from Kent's room. Masamune tried to steady his breathing.

_'It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a... nightmare...'_ he buried his face in his hands. He had to tell somebody about his past, at the very least, _'I don't have to say... I don't have to say what happened to... to... just my past, need to talk about my past...'_

Shakily Masamune got out of the bed, still clothed in the shirt and hakama he'd put on after he'd left the onsen. He walked across the cold floorboards and slid open the connecting door to Kent's room. He walked inside and slid the door shut. A flash of lightning briefly lit up the room and Masamune saw Kent's sleeping form on the bed.

Masamune lost the will to wake the other general – for all Masamune knew, Kent had his own problems weighing heavily on his mind. Masamune quietly walked over to the bed and slumped onto the floor, resting his head on the mattress. He closed his eyes. Maybe he would fall asleep here.

"... Masamune?"

His eye shot open. A hand touched his head, "is that you, Masamune?"

"Kent..." he stuttered, half in surprise and half in a distraught voice. Kent propped himself up on his elbow. Lightning flashed several times outside, revealing that Kent's brows were furrowed with concern.

"What is it?"

"When I was six years old, I got small pox and it took away the sight in my right eye," Masamune started, aware that now that he'd begun his story he wouldn't stop until he finished it, "I know I'm lucky it didn't take my life but that would have been better. My mother's attitude toward me changed, after that, you see? She started giving all her attention to my little brother, she wanted him to be clan head because I couldn't see out of my right eye and that made me unfit to be a leader.

"She hated me. I remember I gave her flowers once and she told me she hated me and later I found them on the ground trampled. I learned how to use a sword after that... I needed something to do to get rid of the pain. Eventually I could use three in one hand. It got me the title of general after my father was captured. He was proud of me... and I had to kill him. I had to kill him because it was the only way to stop his kidnappers 'cause they were all around him and there was nothing else I could do..." he pressed his face into the mattress, aware that he was only doing so to stop his tears. Kent was silent, his breathing even.

"And not long after that my mother she – she tried to poison me. She tried to kill me 'cause I refused to give up my place as clan head. She hated me because of this eye so I... in my anger I ripped off my eye patch and forced her to look at the thing she hated most. And then I dragged her down the hall by her hair and I killed my – I killed my little brother out of spite. I never saw her again after that and I just tried to forget about everything and that turned me into a proud and cocky man," he fell silent, eye shut tightly against tears. It still amazed him that all this had happened little more than two years ago.

Kent made no move to offer Masamune comfort, but Masamune found he was grateful for this. Instead, Kent spoke.

"Masamune your emotions aren't going to do you any good if you try to keep them all bottled up inside," he met Masamune's glare levelly.

"And what would -"

The sudden narrowing of Kent's black coal eyes made Masamune stop talking.

"You're worried about what everyone else would think of you, if you cried? Take a look around you; who else is in this room? The whole village? I think not, idiot. I'm the only one in here, aside from you. Unless of course you think the lightning will hear you and announce it to the whole world. When people are sad, they cry; it's only natural. At least crying proves you're still human."

Masamune turned his head to the left in disgust at himself, tears rolling down his cheek. For the most part he kept silent except for when he breathed in and out. By this time Kent had moved into a cross-legged sitting position on the bed.

It took several minutes before Masamune calmed down. He knew that Kent wasn't going to think anything less of him but he couldn't help thinking that the man would.

The most Kent offered Masamune for comfort was to pat him on the back, but for Masamune, that was enough. He didn't know when he fell asleep.

The next morning quiet voices reached Masamune's ears. His left eye revealed a blurry view of his room; Kent must have carried him back into his room when he fell asleep. It sounded like someone – or some people - were about to enter his room.

"Leave him be," Kent's voice said quite sternly. Masamune closed his eye again, intending to go back asleep when Kent said something else, "well, fine, you can go in, but don't wake him up all right?"

"Hai," that voice belonged to Chouko. Masamune listened as the door was quietly slid open and slid shut. Seconds later and he felt Chouko crawling along the bed. Her hands prodded at his shoulder, as if she was trying to get him to roll over. Masamune did so, cracking his eye open just a bit to see that she had taken on a fearful expression. Perhaps she thought she had awoken him.

Eventually she curled up against his chest, and Masamune draped an arm over her back. He felt her smile against his neck, where her lips had placed themselves, and he couldn't help smiling himself.


	4. Chapter 4

Been a while, hasn't it? I figured, since I have this edited chapter sitting around on my hard drive, I should give ya'll something to read while I continue to process ideas for Countervail and organize myself for incoming chapter.

School's a bitch.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

The storm continued for two days. During this time Hayate had departed to see where the rogues were. He had assumed that they were waiting out the storm in the forests nearby. The villagers begrudgingly let Hayate leave.

_'He _is_ one of the few that can do lots of work in the fields at a time, after all... he gets more done then I could ever hope to get done too... just like -'_ Masamune shook his head, refusing to let himself dwell on the topic. He turned his attention instead to Kouji and Kenshin, who were busy sparring with practice swords Masamune had whittled out of wood for them to use; it was too dangerous to let them use real katanas yet.

Kouji was strong in his stance, his back straight and hands spaced well on the hilt. Kenshin wasn't as good, but he was getting there; his blows were obviously stronger then Kouji's.

_'Only problem he has with his brother right now is,'_ Masamune smiled when Kenshin swung his sword and Kouji ducked under the wood, lurching forward to ram into his brother's stomach and knock him down, _'how fast Kouji is at dodging. Man, that's the eighth time Kenshin's lost today. He's only won twice.'_

"All right, that's enough you two. You guys are getting real good with those. Keep it up," Masamune got up and walked towards them. The earth was still slippery from the rain – no one had been out to the fields yet. The two twins smiled at him, their shoulders rising and falling with every heavy breath they took. Kenshin remained on the ground, catching his breath.

"You know... Kouji... you're... kind of... like... Kent... the way he... fights," Kenshin managed to say through breathes. Kouji poked the group with the tip of his wooden sword.

"I suppose... oh... I think he might be," Kouji licked his lips and Masamune handed him a flask of water, "I think Kent might be training near the water if you want to see him train," Kouji drank the water heartily while Masamune handed the other flask he had with him to Kenshin – Megohime had given them to him earlier that day.

"Maybe I'll go see how he's doing. You two should go freshen up. We'll be having lunch soon, after all," Masamune instructed them, turning on his heel to go and find Kent.

"Just on the other side of where we are, Masamune!" Kouji called after him. Masamune gave the young teen a wave, continuing on his quest to find Kent. He could see flashes of lightning opposite to where he had been training Kouji and Kenshin, so he headed in that direction.

_'Kouji _did_ say he was training by the river... eh?'_ Masamune could have sworn that the flashes of lightning he just saw were black, not the bluish-green he had been seeing earlier. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

_'Black... black lightning... no, no way,'_ he shrugged off the foreboding feeling and proceeded towards the river. When his lonely eye found Kent he stared in awe, startled.

Kent was wearing his armor, and clipped to his belt was the traditional daishou set of swords. Masamune found the man's initial stance strange. Though the swords were clipped to his right side, he did not wield his uchigatana in his left hand; instead, he held it in his right hand. Masamune also found it strange that there was no armor covering Kent's left hand at all, not even a glove, leaving his arm bare right up to his shoulder. He had his left arm outstretched as if he were about to strike something, a thin trail of steam rising from his pointer finger.

Masamune's eye followed the direction that Kent's forefinger was pointing towards and stared when he saw that the tree Kent was pointing at had been incinerated right down to the roots; only smoke rose up from where the tree had been. Masamune swallowed. He had no idea Kent was this strong.

As for his armor, Masamune could see an embroidered dragon and serpent on the back of Kent's overcoat, the two beasts entwined together. Their heads were facing each other at the collar of the overcoat, mouths wide open and poised to strike; the tails reached to the bottom of the overcoat, the serpent's tail on the right flap of the overcoat, and the dragon's tail on the left. The overcoat was pitch black, as was Kent's bracer.

His glove was leather, and Masamune was sure that under the sleeve of the overcoat – which was rolled up to the elbow – Kent was wearing chain mail; under that chain mail, he was probably wearing a long sleeved shirt.

_'And his leg braces are black too... tabi are... dark... dark red? Maybe... or maybe that's dark gold or something... some musty gold color...'_ Masamune swallowed, his eyes drifting back to Kent's swords. He noticed that the sheath of the uchigatana was a golden yellow, while the sheath underneath that was pitch black. Masamune smirked to himself, leaning against the wall of the house he was standing next to.

_'I wonder why his armor's got so much black in it. Is that his army's color?'_ Masamune thought. It was normal for generals to have armor that matched the color of the rest of their army. The same could sometimes be said for retainers, but that wasn't always the case.

Suddenly Kent spoke in a commanding tone, "_Shoumei: Kuroi raikiri."_

Masamune stared, fear coursing through his body. He couldn't believe it. The lightning that snaked down Kent's arm then snapped out of his fingers and straight into the trees on the other side was pitch black, giving off no light. The trees went up in smoke, the lightning still present on Kent's arm, growling and snarling as if it were a living creature before the angry sound died down and the thin streaks of lightning faded.

Masamune found that his breathing had become very heavy. His eye was wide with fright, his body immobile from the fear that he felt. That lightning was the same lightning that had almost killed him. He kept seeing the shadow of a man running in front of him and taking that blow.

Kent lowered his arm, turning his body to the left to look at Masamune, his eyes holding no sympathy. Masamune's heart pounded in his ears and he took a subtle step back.

"Are you afraid of me, Masamune?" Kent asked. Masamune stared at him, unable to move or speak. Kent turned fully so that he was facing Masamune, his eyes hard, "you are afraid, aren't you? No..." Kent stepped towards him threateningly, "you're _terrified_."

As soon as the word "terrified" reached Masamune he could move again, and he turned around quickly, sprinting back the way he had come. He slipped on the muddy earth and almost fell, but he righted himself and continued running; his legs led him to the onsen. Thoughtlessly he yanked the door to the side and dashed in. He must have startled the women inside because a few of them screamed when they saw him.

He tripped but this time he didn't stop his fall. He let himself hit the hard ground of the onsen and after a moment of silence he heard frantic splashing.

"Masamune? Masamune, what happened? Are you all right?" the first woman to come to him was Sanae. Shortly after that he felt prodding on his right side, and knew that that was Megohime. He let himself be pulled into Sanae's arms.

"Masamune?"

"Kent... Kent scares me," he admitted, hugging the woman that held him, "I'm afraid of Kent."

"W-why? Why are you afraid of Kent?" Megohime asked, baffled. The door to the onsen slid shut, and someone else entered the room.

"Because I possess something he can't control. I told you before, didn't I? Black lightning. The murderous thing claimed my left arm," Kent snapped before anyone else could talk. Masamune straightened and forced himself to look at Kent.

_'Black lightning... murderous? It's murderous, the Black lightning itself?'_ Masamune got to his feet, keeping his eye on Kent, forcing his fear back down his throat.

"You say... Black lightning is murderous? What the hell makes if murderous? If it's your element – I mean, obviously you can control it!"

"Obviously, I can. But nothing will change the fact that I had to abandon my army for five months to learn how to control it in the first place."

"Then why are you here if you can control it?" Masamune demanded. It didn't make sense. Kent could obviously control his Black lightning – much better then the bandits Masamune had run into almost two months ago – so there was no reason for him to be in this village in the first place.

A pained, guilty expression came over Kent's face then and he closed his eyes, looking away. Masamune blinked; he had never seen Kent make that expression before.

"I didn't have a choice," he barely heard Kent mumble, but before Masamune could ask about it, Kent spoke again, "as for your first question, Black lightning is murderous because it's the only element that _will_ kill you, regardless of who you are or how powerful you think you might be. Black lightning will kill you."

"But it's just an element!" Masamune exclaimed, wondering how in the world an element all by itself could just kill someone – _'does that mean it could kill someone like the Demon King? Like old man Takeda? Is that what that means?'_

"It's an element that kills. I don't know how else I can explain it to you. Unless you learn how to control it, unless you tame the damn thing, it won't do a thing you say. And if you so much as _miss_ your intended target, and you can't control it, it will backlash and kill _you_. It's merciless and unforgiving, and it's a murderer. Do I need to say anything more to you?" Kent demanded, pain evident in his eyes. Masamune looked down at the floor; the women were very quiet.

_'He never wanted to leave his army. He never wanted this,'_ Masamune realized, bringing his hand up to cover his face, _'Kent never wanted any of this.'_

And as if he could hear Masamune's thoughts Kent said, "if it could have been avoided, I would prefer not to have Black lightning. I would – as much as I love this village and the people I would have - preferred to stay with the army. I would have... preferred that," the man turned on his heel and walked back out of the onsen.

_'Like he's revealing some secret,'_ Masamune looked over his shoulder at the women behind him, _'like he didn't want them to know that... so he never wanted something so powerful in the first place. I guess there _are_ generals out there that could care less about power...'_

Masamune approached the edge of the pool in the middle of the room and sat down, dangling his feet in the water. Megohime returned to the water, resting her head on his knees, though Sanae did not return. Masamune looked over his shoulder to see where she was, and found that she was gone.

After dangling his feet in the hot water for twenty minutes Masamune got up and left the onsen, much to the surprise of Megohime. The other women prevented her from making Masamune stay – he appreciated that.

_'I should find Sanae. Sanae might be able to explain this all to me... why he would have preferred to stay with his army. I guess that's a difference between us,_' Masamune poked his head around a wall, then decided to head to Sanae's home, _'Kent left his army because of Black lightning. I left my army because I can't stand to face them anymore.'_

Masamune found Sanae in her home, looking rather sullen. She raised her head when he tapped on the wooden frame of the door; a sad smile came over her lips.

"Hello, Masamune."

"Hey. Um... where'd Kent go?" Masamune asked, approaching her. She patted the floorboards in front of her and he sat down.

"He... went into the woods. To look for the rouges..." she said, clasping her hands together in her lap, "though if I know him as well as I think I do, he just wants to get away from here."

Masamune frowned, "if he just wants to leave then why did he come here in the first place? What the hell did he mean when he said he didn't have a choice?"

"I... I don't know anything about elements, Masamune," Sanae admitted, "I myself am element-less. But I think that his element, Black lightning... it's brought him more pain then anything else over the time that he's had it. Though I think what pains him the most is being away from her..."

"Her?" Masamune prodded. No matter how much he tried to bring up the topic of this "her", Kent would always find a way to skirt around who she was and what she meant to him.

"Yes, her... I don't know anymore then you do. All I know is that he's always worried about her and that she's always on his mind. I can see it in his eyes... but Kent would never be one to admit he was in love."

Masamune chuckled, "really? I noticed that much at least," he informed her, "that man is almost an emotionless bastard."

"I suppose towards men he would seem that way. It's just the way he thinks. Men should be able to do everything themselves. Of course, there are some things that he expects women to be able to do themselves, but it's not like he expects us to be able to fight."

"Eh? Why?"

"Masamune, women are fragile at heart. We are more emotional then you men are it's – difficult for us to kill people, do you understand?" she told him, patting his cheek. Masamune smiled.

"But since you women are so damn emotional, you sure know how to put us men in our place. My... father always told me that I should never argue with a woman, because since I'm a man I'm not allowed to be right, you see?" Masamune bit his lip when Sanae tilted her head at him, as if she knew he hadn't meant to say "father" but something else.

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

_'Damn it. Must be women's intuition or something like that,'_ Masamune shook his head slightly, giving her a weak smile, "no, no I'm not not telling you something."

"Masamune..."

"Really!" he exclaimed. He was tempted to get to his feet and leave, but that would only serve to work against him, that much he knew. Whenever he had done something like that around _him_, he would give chase and demand to know what was bothering Masamune – the boy assumed Sanae would do the same.

_'Kent definitely wouldn't. I can tell he doesn't really give much of a damn about me.'_

"If you won't answer that then please tell me why Kent frightens you," she said after a while. Masamune scratched the back of his head, fumbling with the strap of his eye patch.

"I – I guess it would be more accurate if I said that it was Black lightning that scares me, not Kent himself. But Kent is a scary guy, you see?" Masamune added with a smirk, making Sanae smile. Masamune couldn't resist continuing, "makes me wonder if there's anyone out there who is actually not afraid of that guy."

"The girl that's always on his mind isn't afraid of him. I can tell that much. I only managed to get him to talk about her once, and I think that's because he was sick. He wouldn't have told me about her if he had been able to think before he spoke but... clearly, from the way he described her, she is not afraid of him in the least," Sanae furrowed my brows, "and also, the way he talks about her... makes it sound like she is in a position that is superior to him... even though he's a general himself."

"Wow... a superior position? Interesting... damn, now I want to know more about her," Masamune complained. Sanae smiled at him, but he could see the pain in her eyes – she was jealous of whoever this girl was that had so captured Kent's heart.

_'Guess I should take my leave then...'_ he excused himself and went to look for Kent. After an hour of searching Masamune couldn't find him; he gave up, deciding that Kent would come back when he wanted to come back.

Kouji and Kenshin came running up to him later that evening, informing him that Kent was back with the rogues and Hayate.

"Oh, Kent told us to come get you," Kouji added after they relayed the news, dragging Masamune off towards the onsen. Masamune frowned; the onsen had become a sort of a meeting place for everyone.

"The rogues' are washing up! But Kent still told us to come get you."

"W-why?" Masamune stuttered when he almost tripped on a step, "could you guys stop tuggin' so hard? I'm gonna' break my face!"

"Sorry, sorry," they said, laughing lightly. Kouji pushed open the door and led the way, while Kenshin answered Masamune's question.

"'Cause when he mentioned you Princess almost ran out – only wearing a towel. Dunno why she's so eager to see you though..." the boy looked thoughtful as the three entered the main room when the pool of hot water was. Kouji waved his hand high in the air.

"Hey Kent! We brought Masamune!"

"Yep yep!"

"Mm, thanks," Kent narrowed his eyes, glancing down at his left arm then back at Masamune. Masamune looked away – the Black lightning was something he wanted to avoid for a while.

"... Dokuganryuu?"

Masamune's eye widened, _'no way... so Princess is...'_ he looked up, and saw who he had been looking for all this time. The woman was still beautiful, if not more beautiful then the last time he had seen her. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of purple, amethyst pools that drew him into their depths. She was staring at him with an expression akin to awe, as if she couldn't believe he was real.

Suddenly she stood - making Masamune blush involuntarily - and got out of the pool, eyes still intent on him. She looked confused – maybe she thought he was going to disappear at any moment. She walked towards him, unsteady on her feet because she was so focused on him, and Masamune couldn't help looking her up and down once. Her arms and legs were more toned then they used to be, her stomach showing some muscle as well. She stopped in front of him, peering intently at his face.

"Are you really... really the Dokuganryuu?" she asked, her voice still soft and still shy. He nodded his head, unable to speak.

She reached up and brushed his hair out of his face – he had forgotten that it had grown longer – revealing the eye patch underneath. She jumped back slightly after seeing the eyepatch, pulling her hand away from his face.

"You really... you really are the Dokuganryuu..." she blinked, finally coming to terms with the truth, "Ichi thought that maybe... maybe Ichi was dreaming..."

"You aren't dreaming. I'm here and I'm real," he said, giving her a pat on the head. When she shivered he added, "you must be cold, maybe you should get back in the water, you see?"

It was then that Ichi must have remembered she was naked, because she immediately tried to cover herself, her cheeks flushing red with embarrassment. Her two arms weren't doing her much good, so Masamune removed his shirt and held it in front of her. When she looked up at him in surprise he looked away, blushing lightly.

"Here. My shirt will do better then your arms, you see?"

"Ah – ah- _arigato..._" she held his shirt to her chest, her mouth hidden behind the collar.

Masamune glanced at Kent, seeing that the man was paying close attention to their exchange. A quick look around the onsen let Masamune see that the rogues' and Hayate were also paying close attention; they were very quiet.

Masamune turned around, more embarrassed then before, _'damn it now I look like a sensitive guy! Shit...'_

"Since you're washing up I'll uh, I'll go do something useful with myself," Masamune gave Ichi a small wave.

"Will – will Ichi..."

He looked at her, noticing that she was holding his shirt rather tightly. Her eyes looked very sullen.

"Will Ichi what?"

She looked up, revealing her lips were turned down in a distressed frown.

"Will Ichi see Dokuganryuu again?"

He tilted his head to the side, narrowing his eye slightly, "of course you will. I'm gonna' be in this village for a while so... of course you'll see me again."

Her small, pretty lips turned up at the edges in a smile, her eyes narrowing back in what Masamune could only assume to be joy. Seeing her so happy about being able to see him again made him want to stay in the village forever, as long as it meant keeping that smile on her face.


End file.
